Before it's too late...

Ok, this time last year, we had some home games and no games. Today, we have ring games and tourneys in a casino, home games all over the place, tournament directors proposing and running tourneys. Poker on TV, poker on the brain.

I wanna talk a bit out the tournament scene. Why? Cuz it's always gonna be the sexiest and most accessible segment of poker life. Compared to the cash game side, where time commitment and bankroll are major considerations, tournaments give more folks the opportunity to participate with relatively little downside and significant upside. With tournaments being held "above-ground" now, it's likely we'll see plenty of these this year. Cash tourneys, satellites, super-satellites, fund-raisers, you name it.

With all this action, Tournament Directors/Organizers and the casinos can run the risk of making players' heads spin. With increasing player sophistication, Tourney Directors ought to work out some level of uniformity in the way individual events are conducted. I'm talking about rules, structuring philosophies, staff training, payout structures.

I can hear some tourney directors saying, "Well, it's my tournament, so people are just gonna have to play by my rules." Ok, point taken, things like buy-ins, formats and starting stacks are always gonna be unique to some extent. No problems there. But what about the basic rules for a poker tournament (whatever flavor of poker we're talking about).

Rules: I've seen a hodgepodge of ruling made in the last little while. What happens to dealer-exposed holecards, prematurely dealt cards, etc. Man I've seen some interesting rulings. Well, the answers to all these questions are available. Look at the Tournament Directors Association ruleset. Have a look at the established rules of poker to guide your decisions.

With respect to payouts, it's gonna get messy when players watch some of us rake 10% of the pot, some 20% of the pot, some 70% of the pot. I've heard of some rebuys run locally where none of the rebuy money found its way into the prize pool. Where the hell did it go? And why did the players not say anything? Did they not know any better? Perhaps. Did they not care? Perhaps. But they should have known that that's certainly not kosher in most legitimate tournaments worldwide.

These are just a few top-of-mind issues I've personally come across. I'm sure there's more.

The key is, in my humble estimation, to create a Philippine equivalent to the TDA in the US. This will allow serious and scrupulous Tournament Directors to have an umbrella "seal" under which to operate. Marco A., a good friend and legitimate tournament dude, suggested a logo, a seal, that can be used in conjunction with member directors' marketing efforts for their individual events. Such an identifier will provide players with peace of mind that generally accepted principles and rules are to be used for a given competition. I think this is a great idea that supports an ideal that places players first. This is one critical way in which this industry can standardize and grow.

two cents lang...

What is it about...

...a champion. A rock-solid performer, a single-minded trooper that gives us all a glimpse into the world of talent and genius. This weekend Manny Pacquiao pretty much ragdolled Erik Morales in Vegas. I won't go into analytical details here, cuz I ain't no boxing analyst. What I do wanna think about is what are the things that make these one-in-a-million types who excite us, stun competitors, and realize their dreams.

In boxing, it's an easy formula to figure out...raw talent, physical superiority, deep knowledge of the science of your sport, mental excellence, discipline, a fierce competitive spirit, and world-class coaching/training. I'm sure there's more to it.

As much as I hate to do this, I'm internally compelled to bridging these notions to the felt. If the poker table is our boxing ring, can we parallel these two fields of competition? Well, many of you may giggle a bit here, but don't forget that there are stars of similar magnitude in the world of cards. I won't name any, but you do know who the stars are, and how they are defined as such: consistent tournament wins, ring game mastery (and hence profitability), and with the advent of TV, clearly visible mental superiority.

Now the next question: Can we produce a Manny Pacquiao equivalent for our game?

I believe so.

The intangible qualities inherent in a boxing champ - the knowledge, raw talent, quick-wittedness, competitive fire, etc. - can be found in many a Filipino. We just need to give that person (or those people) the environment in which to learn, train and excel.

The arenas are popping up. Increasing frequency in tourney poker, legal cardrooms (well, one so far), access to other peoples' experience and knowledge, game selection, knowledge (books, etc.). Thus we're beginning to give our raw geniuses a chance.

We're gonna start noticing a few folks of ITM often, and crush the ring games. These names will get noticed. I hope we find a way to support them.

There are top-notch Filipinos playing cards in the U.S., I dream of a local to come up from the ranks here. Can we send a contender to the Series this year or next? We'll keep an eye out for them.

tough week..

again, apologies for the interminable delays, but i'm dealing with interminable PLDT delays...arghhh..

but that aside, we suffered a tough week around our community of friends.

Condolensces to the Grouch, who lost his mom this past week. Let us know if there's anything we can do, Mike. Keep your chin up.

And...our best wishes to the family of the recently deceased mayor Mayor Bernos, of La Paz, Abra...may the evil people who did this be punished swiftly and severely.

Peace to all...

I'm sorry...so sorry....

First things first. Just moved to a new pad, and everything's in working order. Everything that is, except the single most important infrastructural requirement in my home. An Internet connection.

Turns out the previous owners of our condo unit failed to pay a hefty bill with PLDT, and until that little issue was cleared up, we couldn't get the phone company to move on our application. To make matters worse, I had no other options for an ISP. Well, I'm told we'll be up and running soon, so I promise I'll be posting a little more often.

Quick journal-type stuff:

1. Barb and I have kicked of our poker new year. Since Jan 1, she's winning, and I'm not. Typical.

2. The airport casino is rockin more and more players daily, and i'm told they're spreading limit tables now. Gonna check that out tonight.

3. Played the Poker King Challenge tourney last Saturday. Barb busted around 50th and I busted in 28th (out of 92).

4. I'll be announcing a tourney real soon. Keep ya posted.

5. Check out camp hold 'em Podcast, UBERadio.

Peace...

Poker '06...

Let's talk turkey here (had turkey this xmas, for those of you who care)...we're in for a big year. A few months ago i posted a buncha predictions about local poker...well, i'm gonna try my hand at trying to make sense of, and predict, 2006. What might be in store for us?

On the government side, PAGCOR's taken the first plunge into the world of casino poker. With tournaments already having been held at two casinos, and more on the way. The Poker Club of the Philippines is also working hand in hand with PAGCOR to deliver at least one big event, the Philippine Poker Tour, with its culmination in April, with a grand prize of 1,000,000.00, guaranteed to the winner. This'll be the benchmark prize for this year.

Airport Casino Filipino has a regular Hold'Em room. After about 2 weeks of operation, it looks like a winner. Currently spreading 6 tables on the 2nd Floor, you can find action between 2pm and 6am (with extended hours upon request) seven days a week. Casino management is supportive as can be, so let's look to seeing up to twenty tables spread in the next three months. Oh, and stay tuned for daily tournaments to start up at the casino soon.

The natural progression of all this is the appearance of permanent poker rooms in many other casinos in the metro area and ultimately nationwide. I don't see this taking a long time to get rockin; PAGCOR has a corporate squad tasked with training up dealers, and the ACF is paving the way on the operational side. I'd say that we'll see permanent tables in our larger casinos within the next sixty days.

We'll see promotional tourneys at the out-of-town destination casinos as they catch the wave and use poker to introduce us city slickers and of course their foreign customer base to their casinos. Prepare to fly to this place and that for some exotic poker.

The tournament circuit will get serious. So for you fame-chasin' types out there, you'll have lots of opportunity...tournaments will be plentiful, and at all kinds of stakes. Don't forget that ABS-CBN has committed to four WPT events this year; we're gonna see some big action.

We also have the big gaming congress happening here in February. Some of our closest friends are working on this, and a little birdie tells me that we'll see some real famous poker types on our shores.

TV: Solar and ABS-CBN are gonna get more aggressive. Solar of course has been the first-mover in this space with WPT, Celebrity Poker, Party Poker, and now the San Miguel Bar Tour and upcoming Ray-Ban Celebrity Poke Showdown. ABS is gonna have to get movin' soon, and I don't doubt they will.

With TV will come a much larger set of players venturing out into the casinos and games we play. We're gonna start catching the big wave, and will have non-stop opportunities to play cards, select our games, and pick the folks and stakes we play. Just like the real world heheh....

So, what happens next? Well, if history is a legitimate guide, we can look forward to online poker getting its claws on many of us, and for the merchandisers to start selling big real soon. More on those two industry segments in the future...